FRIDAY, 18 MARCH 2016
Think of a specific problem, and specific resources at your disposal. For example, say you lock yourself out of your house. You look around and all you see is a piece of wire, a broom, a rusty screwdriver and a brick. What you really need is your key, but you don’t have your key. What do you do? You take that piece of wire, the broom, the screwdriver and the brick, and you do your best.
It is the same with making money.
One of the wonderful things about the Internet era is that there are so many methods with which you can generate an income. And therein also lies the problem. It is the easiest thing in the world to fill your bag to such a degree with things you want to do that you can hardly fit it through the train window to embark on your journey to Financial Wellness. As the minutes tick by before the train departs, you know you’d have to unpack some of the items and leave it on the platform. But as hard as you try you cannot get yourself to do it. And so, finally, the train departs without you.
I’m wondering, for instance, what I would do if I only had my English classes, my writing and two other commercial book projects to achieve at least my financial goals for this year. I can’t say for sure if I will accomplish these goals, but one thing is certain: I will do more, and try harder to make money with my writing and the other book projects than is currently the case (yes, even with my writing).
Why do I not do that, seeing that I have just declared what I will do? Because there is always a light that flickers on and off – over there, on that side. “Oh,” I’ll say, “it’s [any of several things I can also do to make more money]. Let me just quickly see what’s going on.”
TUESDAY, 5 APRIL 2016
Tail end of a thought stream: I believe the guy with a grove full of orange trees and nothing else would eventually work out a way to make money with those oranges – fresh orange juice, frozen orange juice, orange peels, bags full of oranges, dried oranges, orange pound cakes …
Would he do better than the guy who also started with a dozen orange trees in his back yard, who reckons it is a waste of time, then buys a few dozen pairs of shoes to sell door to door, and after a month stuffs the unsold shoes in the attic, then does a crash course in gardening and buys himself a set of tools to start a gardening business, knowing that there are other people in the neighbourhood who also offer gardening services and who are better at marketing than he is?
I think the likelihood is greater that the guy who stayed with the oranges would eventually figure out a way to build a steady income.
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